Chapter 227 - Why are you here? (1/2)

At 2:07 PM, Vivian arrived at Sarah's and Aiden's apartment. Two of them sat on the terrace, enjoying rare late March sunny afternoon in PNW* and chatted. They didn't see each other for a while, so there was a lot of gaps to fill in. Sarah told her about her trip to Greece, showed photos and promise ring - she skipped part about beating up gang of troublemakers whose boss groped her. Sarah told her that she collapsed again, and had surgeries, party at her house where she talked with Ed. Sarah noticed panic in Vivian's expression when she told her how Ed knows what she is doing on campus, and was happy to know that her friend is worried about her. And lastly, Sarah briefly talked about Jeff's birthday celebration - again, skipping the part where Liam and Noah got beatings.

”That is all from me... what happened to you? I know for Valentine's you had problems with Gabriel, and after that you gave me silence. What happened between you two?”

Vivian hesitated. ”Well, nothing much. I guess that Valentine's was one hit too much for me. I realized that relationship is like two people holding onto a rope. And in order to work, both of us need to hold onto it all the time, and not just occasionally. I stopped answering his calls and texts, and we didn't see each other since then.” Vivian's face was solemn.

”It ended... Just like that?” Sarah could not believe that after so much time and effort Vivian spent chasing after Gabriel it just ended. And Vivian was really in love with him... maybe she just reached her breaking point. It's easy for love to turn into hate. But Vivian does not look like she hates him. She looks... sad.

Vivian nodded slightly.

Sarah's eyes widened for a second before she regained her composure. ”I guess it's just so... anticlimactic.”

…

While two friends chatted, Aiden observed them through large glass window from inside for some time before going to Vivian's jacket and placing a small device on the inside of her collar. He walked back to the study and said, ”Eve, activate SM34D, and start recording when voice is detected. Let me know by text when you record something.”

He paused for some time, lost in his thoughts before turning and heading to the bedroom where Jeff is.

”Hey, can we talk now?” Aiden asked as he entered the room.

”Yes.” Jeff closed his laptop and looked at Aiden.

”Why are you here?” Aiden looked at Jeff who lowered his head. Aiden was serious as he continued. ”You didn't come here to talk about projects. And this image change is funny. It's not you... so I need to know what is going on.”

Jeff had a solemn expression. He looked up at Aiden, ”How do you court a woman?”

Aiden thought he didn't hear him right. ”What?”

Jeff spoke with hesitation. ”There is a woman I like... I think... how do I let her know that I like her?”